Gibson have finished the final 10 in their series of top guitar riffs, but should all of these be in the list? Are they all genuine riffs?
Here in the Hitsquad / GuitarSite.com office, we had a bit of a discussion on what really constitutes a riff. Should a mostly chord based thing be a riff or should it only be counted if it’s mostly notes (melodic doesn’t seem to be the right word here)? And should it be played lower on the fretboard for extra grunt?
For example, ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ is what we consider to embody the best in what aught to be considered a riff. While on the other hand, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ is too far up the fretboard and should be more thought of as a lead rather than a riff.
Anyway – here’s what Gibson came up with:
1. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” The Rolling Stones
2. “Smoke on the Water,” Deep Purple
3. “Whole Lotta Love,” Led Zeppelin
4. “Iron Man,” Black Sabbath
5. “Back in Black,” AC/DC
6. “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Nirvana
7. “You Really Got Me,” The Kinks
8. “Day Tripper,” The Beatles
9. “Walk This Way,” Aerosmith
10. “Sunshine of Your Love,” Cream
11. “Crazy Train,” Ozzy Osbourne
12. “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Guns N’ Roses
13. “Layla,” Derek and the Dominos
14. “Purple Haze,” The Jimi Hendrix Experience
15. “Enter Sandman,” Metallica
16. “Heartbreaker,” Led Zeppelin
17. “Black Dog,” Led Zeppelin
18. “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Roy Orbison
19. “Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry
20. “Foxy Lady,” The Jimi Hendrix Experience
21. “I Feel Fine,” The Beatles
22. “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love,” Van Halen
23. “Seven Nation Army,” The White Stripes
24. “Ticket to Ride,” The Beatles
25. “Highway to Hell,” AC/DC
26. “Shakin’ All Over,” Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
27. “Rebel Rebel,” David Bowie
28. “Mannish Boy,” Muddy Waters
29. “Bo Diddley,” Bo Diddley
30. “Welcome to the Jungle,” Guns N’ Roses
31. “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” The Jimi Hendrix Experience
32. “Wild Thing,” The Troggs
33. “T.V. Eye,” The Stooges
34. “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” Scorpions
35. “Rock and Roll,” Led Zeppelin
36. “Panama,” Van Halen
37. “Rumble,” Link Wray & His Ray Men
38. “Teenage Kicks,” The Undertones
39. “Sultans of Swing,” Dire Straits
40. “I Can’t Explain,” The Who
41. “I Fought the Law,” Bobby Fuller Four
42. “Susie Q,” Dale Hawkins
43. “Somethin’ Else,” Eddie Cochran
44. “Peggy Sue,” Buddy Holly
45. “Cat Scratch Fever,” Ted Nugent
46. “Revolution,” The Beatles
47. “Born on the Bayou,” Creedence Clearwater Revival
48. “Louie Louie,” The Kingsmen
49. “School’s Out,” Alice Cooper
50. “Guerilla Radio,” Rage Against the Machine
You can also find the Gibson Reader’s Poll top 25 at Full Top 50 Riffs List, Readers Poll Revealed.
The Top 50 Riffs is republished here courtesy of Gibson Lifestyle
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Read it too quickly. My sentiment remains the same.
I think you’re right – there will be people who disagree just because they don’t like a particular band/song/style without taking the time to appreciate the music on it’s own merits.
That said, I still think many people have different ideas as to what constitutes a riff – as I outlined in the article above.
I am waiting for the cretins to start in with their ‘You didn’t include ‘WhatstheBand’ and their riff in ‘TheirSongILike ‘, which is soooo much better than..(pick one.) This is a poll. That means people voted on it. Doesn’t matter if you agree or not. I think the list is fine. And yeah, I play Gibsons.
The Top 50 riff list above was not voted for – it was the list chosen by Gibson.
They do have an alternate list which was voted on and you can find that by following the link at the bottom of the list above.
I hope this helps.